2023

Design Strategy | Design System | iOs Android

Westpac One - App redesign strategy

Online banking platform available on iOS, Android, and web for secure and convenient banking anytime, anywhere.

Westpac one

Westpac One has been a leading channel experience for Westpac New Zealand (WNZL) customers for many years, driving digital product leadership since its launch. While there have been some issues causing frustration, overall customer satisfaction shows we are on the right track with a digital-first approach.

Recently, Westpac planned to move Westpac One off its current systems, which are no longer supported by IBM. This necessitates a redesign and rebuild of the app (iOS, Android, and browser). This presents a milestone opportunity for Experience Design and our stakeholders to envision the future of Westpac One. We aim to enhance the end-to-end customer journey, empowering users to self-serve across an omnichannel experience.

Situation

Business motivations

  • 80% of the app is web-based and 20% is native. We aim to transition to a fully native app for better performance and user experience.

  • IBM will stop supporting MF8, MF8 is used as middleware to host the journeys and functions of the app, prompting discussions about converting to a native app.

  • W One app lacks many features and functions compared to our competitors.

  • The Australia Westpac app was recently revamped, and the Westpac brand was updated. We must follow the updated brand and enhance the app accordingly.

What did i do?

I led the project with a junior UX designer from the app team and a designer from the online banking team, under the guidance of the Head of Channel Design and the Chief Experience Officer. Together, we aimed to manage the expectations of the tribe and leadership team, ensuring the successful execution of our design projects.

This huge project spanned nearly 8 months, and I've summarised my key contributions below.

I’ve planned and executed various activities to understand the pain points

Understand the painpoints

I have carefully reviewed all the extensive research and documented points from the other designers and various parts of the business to gain a comprehensive understanding of the issues,

Leverage previous reseraches

Key gap analysis & iSky Research

I have conducted an extensive gap analysis with the Service designer, analysing call centre data to understand common call reasons, issues, and categories. Additionally, I consulted our internal researchers, reviewed Canstar ratings, and conducted iSky research to compare features and functionalities. This involved examining the disparities between our apps and competitors' offerings from other banks. I have compiled these findings and presented them to the tribe.

Identifying all the problems, understanding what customers really need from the app, and deciding which ones to fix through redesign took a lot of effort. Some problems weren't just with the app; they came from limits in what we could do, technical issues, or decisions made earlier.

We held many sessions to share and get feedback, prioritising the most important areas to work on—ones that would make a big difference for our customers. We figured out which problems and needs needed big changes in our strategy

Needs and Pain points

Design principles

We wanted to establish guiding design principles for this project to assist us in creating the app effectively. This involves defining the core values and goals of the app, as well as setting clear guidelines for the design and user experience. By doing so, we aim to ensure that the app is not only visually appealing but also functional and user-friendly. These principles will serve as a roadmap throughout the design and development process, helping us make consistent and informed decisions.

Westpac Australia

I led the review of Westpac Australia and other well-known organizations such as Spotify and Airbnb for inspiration, noting how they incorporated their principles into their products.

Mapped painpoints

Identified customer needs based on feedback from various sources, such as in-app feedback, the Power BI dashboard for the call centre, and app store reviews. Using this feedback, pinpointed pain points and associated emotions.

Draft principles

Identified keywords to solve our problems, categorised the problems, and reviewed our principles to align and customize our approach. Refined our draft principles and shared them with the wider team for feedback.

We created ours….

Information architecture

I’ve planned and executed various activities create future App IA

Current app IA

I have analysed and mapped the current information architecture of the apps to understand what is working and what is not.

Australia App IA

I have carefully reviewed Westpac Australia's recently redesigned app and mapped its current information architecture to understand its structure

Future IA

Led by another Designer

Conducted tree tests and card sorting activities with 30 participants, using optimal workshop, half of whom were customers, to analyze the current information architecture of the apps. Based on the feedback, we created a new information architecture and subsequently performed tree testing on the updated structure.

Art direction

Westpac recently redesigned its branding strategy, updating the colour, typography, and other visual design elements. We need to localize and create guidelines suitable for the New Zealand market using these changes as guidelines. This involves identifying new colours and typography to match the new theme for our design system. Based on the branding guidelines, we developed a colour scheme to update the tokens in the design system.

Design System

Android and iOS design System

This process involves updating and tidying up the libraries to align with the new colours and typography introduced in our recent branding redesign.

Created Basic components

We updated existing components to align with Westpac's new branding, Material 3 guidelines for Android, and Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) for iOS. We also created new components to ensure consistency and a modern user experience.

Key journeys

Identified key journeys to test and improve, with our initial focus on the accounts feature.

Assumptions

Created assumptions based on all these pain points previous research and analysis

Prioritisation

Prioritied assumptions based on the map and identified which ones to validate first.

Hypothesises

Formed our hypothesise to validate

Prototype

Usertesting

Testing was conducted over Teams, 1-on-1, with users sharing their screen while using the Figma prototype. The participants were given control of the prototype and tasked with completing three payment scenarios while sharing their thoughts.


Shared our findings with the squads, tribes, and the wider XD community, conducting multiple feedback sessions based on what we tested and discovered.

My key learnings…

  • I gained valuable experience in collaborating with diverse teams, managing transitions, and effectively gathering insights to form my designs.

  • I Enhanced my understanding of Adroid and iOS Design guidelines

  • I deepened my understanding of project management, and the processes of handing over responsibilities to external parties.

  • I learned the importance of adaptability and resilience in the face of unexpected changes.

  • Overall, this experience provided me with valuable insights and skills that I can apply to future projects and challenges.